Author's Notes:
PAIRINGS: Leorio/Kurapika (Leopika); Hisoka/Kurapika (Hisopika); Hisoka/Illumi (HisoIllu); Hisoka/Illumi/Pariston/Kurapika
RATING: Mature
NOTE: To read this story's missing scenes with sexual content, check the uncensored version on Archive of Our Own (AO3 username: lemonpika).
CONTENT WARNINGS (in the uncensored AO3 version): Attempted rape among minors, homophobic language. Please skip this chapter if these topics are triggering or objectionable to you.
Chapter 6: The subtle art of surreptitious subjugation
They move as fast as their legs will permit, but neither of them is poised to run a marathon at a moment's notice. Not with Kurapika's recent injury, and definitely not with Pairo's disability. Before they can dive into the thicket, two guys materialize in front of them. The cousins back away, only to be accosted by two girls behind them.
"Easy there," the taller girl says. Her aquiline nose is high in the air, while her eyes are leering down at them.
"It was a novelty seeing you in your civilian clothes, so we caught up to say hello," the other girl adds, gathering up her bubblegum-pink hair into a ponytail.
Kurapika recognizes the next one to speak — the giant who scared class 1–A into submission. He doesn't seem to recognize Kurapika from their brief encounter. "Cracks me up that you were trying so hard to escape! Don't you get it yet? The faster you run, the more fun we have hunting you down!"
The second guy, who's half the size of his towering companion, snickers. "Course, you can't run at all, can you, Four Eyes? Which makes it even funnier when you try."
Just like that, all the scattered clues in Kurapika's head click into place. Pairo has been hiding the truth all this time, hasn't he? The Spider did visit his classroom on the first day of school. One of them must've seen him — in the shiny new glasses that Kurapika specially selected — and singled him out as a target. Why else would Pairo be pestered with that nickname, when he's gone without glasses ever since that day? Have these people been picking on him since classes commenced?
Months. It's been months since his cousin has been suffering in silence. Kurapika is determined to remedy the situation, starting now. "Don't you upperclassmen have anything better to do than bully a freshman who's never even hurt a fly? Leave us be and let us go home in peace. We won't report your intimidation tactics to the school as long as you cut the crap now."
"Intimidation tactics?" The giant throws back his head and roars with laughter. "Four Eyes, why didn't you tell us you had such a peach for a sister? We would've come on the weekends to play with you much sooner!"
"I'm not —!" The rest of Kurapika's sentence is snuffed out when, without warning, the short guy's hand springs forward to stuff a skull-print bandanna into his mouth. Kurapika jerks backward, bumping against the pink-haired girl behind him.
She wastes no time in twisting his arms behind his back. Her lips are by his ear, her breath the scent of cherry chapstick. "Fight back and I'll snap your bones like twigs. Try me."
Amidst the sickeningly sweet fragrance, Kurapika freezes as he feels the first stirrings of fear. The girl speedily binds his wrists. The cords she uses are so thin that they carve into his skin.
Why is any of this happening? How can everything go wrong so fast? Moments ago, he and Pairo were on their way to their favorite place, ready to revive the faded magic of that golden pocket of time and space.
Now, Kurapika can only watch in wordless horror as the taller guy and girl bind and gag his cousin in a couple of seconds. Given their efficiency, it's clear that they've conducted abductions in broad daylight before. Presently, the sun is sinking just beneath the horizon. Barely anyone takes this path at this time of day. Nobody's coming to hear their muffled protests.
Fingernails digging into Pairo's shoulder, the tall girl lets her gaze wander up the path. "Four Eyes, is that your house there at the end? What a cozy-looking home. Your parents are waiting for the two of you to return, aren't they? Now, if you don't want anything to happen to them or to your beloved sister, I suggest you cooperate. We only want to talk somewhere no one can bother us."
With this warning, the four abductors usher the cousins away from the path and into the wooded area beyond. Their feet trample upon the library book, which fell sometime during the struggle.
For all Kurapika's efforts to cling to those fairy tales, they've slipped far too easily from his fingers.
Kurapika has been fancying himself as the hero of this story, hasn't he? But, in the end, his savior complex amounted to absolutely nothing. He deluded himself into thinking he was protecting his most precious person by putting distance between them, when it was the other way around all along.
Pairo's the one in peril here. He's the ideal target for the wolves of the world since he can never escape. And yet, despite his own pitiful state, Pairo succeeded in protecting his cousin by holding him at arm's length. Of course, Kurapika still ended up ruining everything. He endangered them both by missing Pairo too much. By being too greedy. By asking for more from someone who's already given up everything for him.
These poisonous thoughts fester as the six of them hike off-road, where they can evade the eyes of all nearby residents and passers-by. After a mile of walking on unpaved terrain, the captors slap blindfolds over the cousins' faces.
"Don't worry, piglets," the giant's voice booms. "We'll drag you along by your porky little tails. Can't have you squealing to Mama and Dada about our hideout, can we?"
Their hideout? Will the entire Spider be there? The gang has obviously been tormenting Pairo these past few months, wearing him down into a lifeless shell of his former self. What more can they possibly want from him?
Kurapika tries pleading for his cousin to be freed, but the fabric balled up in his mouth garbles his speech. There's a ferocious blow to the back of his head. Behind his eyelids, he sees a flurry of stars.
"Shut up." It's the short guy's voice. "Save your screams for later. Some of us are into that."
"Feitan, you dolt!" That's the giant's voice now. "You can't knock out the girl! Boss won't be happy if we come marching in with a dead fish, no matter how tight it is!"
Dead fish? Are they planning to kill Kurapika eventually? The terror of this predicament is twisting up his insides. If this goes on, he might pass out even before they reach the gang's hideout.
But the boy named Feitan behaves from that point onward. There's a half-mile more of stumbling around in darkness, then the blindfolds are ripped off.
Once his eyes have adjusted to the lights, he searches for Pairo in a panic. There's his cousin, shaking between the two female kidnappers. Wide-eyed and sweaty-faced, but otherwise okay. Thank all the deities that may or may not exist.
Feitan clamps on the cord around Kurapika's wrists to keep him in place, but no one can stop Kurapika from visually examining the vicinity for possible pathways to escape. There are, however, no exits in sight.
They're in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. As seedy as this place is, the Spider will surely never lack for space.
The gang's other members are approaching now, closing in on the cousins. The new arrivals are every bit as nasty — spitting on them, calling them names, betting with each other on who will be the first to break.
"Let me see," a new voice says. Low, pleasant, perhaps even attractive.
Everyone shuffles aside, making way for their leader. His name is Chrollo, Kurapika remembers. Like Feitan, Chrollo's hair is black as midnight. His eyes, however, have none of his small friend's cruelty. They're wonderstruck — even innocent — as they alight on Pairo.
"Good evening, Pairo." Unlike the others, he doesn't resort to a demeaning nickname. "What brings you here today? Have you come to treat all thirteen of us to a buffet of the most delectable delicacies? Truly, your generosity knows no bounds." He nods toward the two male abductors. "Fei, Uvo. Search them both."
The cousins' pockets are turned inside out, revealing barely any jenny between them.
A wrinkle mars Chrollo's impassive face. "Ah, Pairo. How can you disappoint me so? You've come all this way to pay your respects, but you didn't have the good sense to bestow a gift? Whatever shall we do? Shall we head home and crack open your piggy bank? Or shall I visit you in classroom 1–F at the usual time on Monday? Mommy and Daddy have gotten so lavish with your lunch money, haven't they? Your folks seem determined to spoil me rotten."
Pairo's response sounds strangled.
Taking care not to soil his fingers with saliva, Chrollo extracts the crumpled cloth preventing the boy from speaking.
"I'll give you whatever you want!" Pairo bursts out. "I'll do anything you ask of me! Anything at all! Please, just let Kurapika go!"
Steel-gray eyes sliding now toward Kurapika, Chrollo shoves the fabric into Pairo's mouth to silence him again. "So who is this charming young creature?"
"His sister," the tall female captor explains. "By taking her, we ensured that Four Eyes would come along without whining."
Chrollo gives an approving nod. "Such quick thinking on your part, Paku. I wasn't mistaken to delegate authority to you, even though Fei is the most experienced among us in the subtle art of surreptitious subjugation."
"That's not the whole story, Boss," the pink-haired girl says. "Strategy was only one motivator of many. We were also searching for a new toy for you. Something to reignite your old fire."
"So this is a gift? Especially for me?" A slow smile spreads over the leader's face. "Very well, Machi. The four of you have undoubtedly gone out of your way to procure the prettiest thing imaginable for my collection. I shall partake of this treat in the spirit it was intended. I wonder, does she sound as delicious as she looks?"
It's Kurapika's turn to be ungagged. He's yelling as soon as the bandanna comes out. "I'm not pretty! I'm not delicious! I'm not a girl at all! Now release —"
Chrollo crams the cloth back into Kurapika's mouth. "You're not a girl? I don't believe you."
"She must be lying, Boss!" Uvo the giant exclaims. "She's saying whatever it takes to turn us off!"
"And only turning us on, in the process," Feitan chuckles. "I can't enjoy myself at all unless they're fighting back."
Chrollo's smile is indulgent. "Settle down, you two. Let's verify before we allow our hopes to carry us past the point of no return. Hold the kid still."
Feitan and Uvo each grab an arm. They refuse to relent no matter how hard Kurapika thrashes. Pairo lurches toward his cousin as if attempting to defend him, but the two girls — Paku and Machi — keep him firmly in place.
(There is a deleted scene here.)
Suddenly, there's a nearby outbreak of movement. Kurapika's brain reels itself back from blissful oblivion, just in time to absorb several things happening in swift succession.
With an explosion of adrenaline, the scrawny Pairo has managed to break through his bindings. He wrenches himself free from the two girls restraining him and rushes toward his cousin. With zero hesitation, he tackles Kurapika's half-naked body. The unexpected impact knocks away the three Spiders surrounding him. In a flash, he and Kurapika are rolling over the floor on the far side of the warehouse.
Pairo scrambles to his feet and hovers protectively in front of his cousin. Kurapika is still curled up where he fell, coughing violently as soon as he spits out the bandanna blocking his airway.
Pairo rips out the cloth from his own mouth to shout. "You're all animals! No, you're worse than animals! Didn't you single me out as your prey? Didn't you dream of grinding me into dust beneath your dirty shoes? Then why don't you do just that? Do whatever sick shit you want with me! Don't drag in someone who's got nothing to do with this! If you want to lay another disgusting finger on Kurapika, you'll have to kill me first!"
Pairo, who barely ever raises his voice, is radiating more rage than Kurapika would have imagined possible. A surge of affection for his cousin shoots through his aching body. He loves Pairo so much that he's going to make himself sick with this feeling.
Then again, that could be the nausea talking. Kurapika waits for the churning in his stomach to settle before he forces himself to rise and join his cousin's side. It just then strikes him that the warehouse has fallen eerily silent. The Spiders are standing stock-still, staring dumbstruck at Pairo.
Hisoka's the only one looking elsewhere. For some unknown reason, he only has eyes for Kurapika. His lips curve into a smirk once Kurapika notices him. Was that a wink just now?
Chrollo clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I have urgent business to accomplish with Hisoka. Since I've already wasted so much time with these two visitors, I now tire of their presence." He directs his next words toward the cousins. "I'd rather not insult your intelligence by belaboring such an obvious point, but it needs to be stated nonetheless. As long as you abide by the code of silence, the Spider will stay away. We'll have no reason to see or to speak to either of you again. However, if a single word about our hideout or about today's events ever reaches the ears of a person not present here, I shall personally send you and everyone you love to hell. Don't forget — the Spider knows where you live now. Nothing would be easier than razing your home to the ground." He turns away, hiking up his boxers and pants. "Uvo, kindly escort them out."
The giant scratches his head. "Eh? You really mean it, Boss? You're sending these two twerps away, after all the trouble we took?"
"I always mean everything I say," Chrollo tells him. "I'll thank you never to question my judgment again, Uvogin."
Scowling, the giant severs the cord around Kurapika's wrists and waits as the boy hurriedly dresses himself. He then leads the cousins to a shadowy area of the warehouse. The exit is inconspicuous — it's practically blending in with the wall.
After kicking open the rusting door, Uvo waves his hairy hand in a dismissive manner. "Head north and you'll reach the road. Go on. Get out of here."
They don't need to be told twice. Hands gripping each other tightly, they stride through the trees. There's a soreness in Kurapika's backside — as well as a stickiness that could be blood or something worse — but he orders himself to push past the discomfort. Right now, their priority is to return to safety.
The trees are getting farther and farther apart. They'll be on the pathway back home soon enough. Just as they're about to step on the paved road, Kurapika can no longer keep his nausea at bay. He doubles over and empties his tummy's contents. He retches, again and again. There's an impossibly dark substance inside him, spreading with every second that passes. It's buried too deep to ever be expelled.
Feverish tears are spilling over now, joining the vomit that has splashed over the concrete. He wishes he could scream, but the only sounds that leak out are choked cries and shuddering gasps. Pairo's small hand, slowly stroking his back, is the only thing that can anchor him here, amidst all this madness.